Backcountry Response Teams Fill Critical Niche in Trail Repair

This past December,
the harsh storm that
hit hard on the Olympic Peninsula brought 34 mph winds for 30 straight
hours and unleashed 14 inches of rain in 2 days. As crews assess
the damage, its clear that many of our favorite trails are a
mess–Olympic National Forest
estimates 100 miles of blocked trails and ten failed or damaged foot
bridges, and they aren’t finished assessing yet.

Backcountry Response Teams send small groups of volunteers into
wilderness to maintain trails.

Because many of WTA’s one-day and weekend work parties are only able to
address the first few miles of trail, there is a critical need to have
extended 3-4 day work parties to address maintenance needs of trails
that head further into the backcountry. These storm-damaged trails in
the Olympics are just those sorts of projects.

WTA has
created Backcountry
Response Teams to address these unique needs. These are mobile
trail crews consisting of 4 – 12 people intended for experienced
backcountry hikers.

In April, a crew will head to the the Buckhorn Wilderness of the
Olympic National Forest to log out the Gray
Wolf Trail, which extends 22+ miles from North Olympic
foothills into Olympic National Park. The work will include tread work,
brushing, and crosscut sawing to open trail. In May, another crew will
tackle the Duckabush Trail,
logging out blowdown, busting rock to flatten some slippery slopes on
switchbacks, and a finessing a reroute.

Several Backcountry Response Teams will tend to trails in the Cascades
also. In July, a crew will head to Huckleberry
Mountain off the washed-out Suiattle River Road. The work will
focus on backlog maintenance including logout, heavy brushing and tread
repair. In September you can join a crew to Goat Lake – Elliot Creek in the
Henry M. Jackson Wilderness. The work will concentrate on backlog
maintenance and will include repairing tread damage, improving drainage
and brushing.

Backcountry Response Team trips require each individual to carry his or
her own provisions for the duration of the trip and be able to camp
without supervision. These trips will follow WTA’s work party
guidelines and will be led by a WTA crew leader. Due to the more
arduous nature of these work parties, BCRT volunteers must be in good
physical condition and will be expected to be equipped and able to
carry all gear required for an overnight stay. Volunteers will also be
asked to carry heavy work tools which may include loppers, pulaskis,
shovels, grub hoes and crosscut saws.